For comparison, the summer superhero tent-pole "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" snatched $8.7 million from Thursday night showings and went on to a three-day debut of nearly $92 million. The reboot/sequel has grossed more than $150 million domestically, plus more than $400 million from overseas, for a worldwide total of more than $550 million.

Sixteen years after SpongeBob SquarePants first appeared on television, the yellow animated character made a splash on the big screen this weekend with the release of "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water."